Autograph-recorder.



No. 674,209. Patented May I4, l90l'.

R. P. LINK. AUTOGRAPH nsconozn.

(Application filed Jan. 2, 1901. (No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 51% Z Z Z -Z74 f: I. Q 17 2 57 16 1 Z S 7' a Z s z s z JWQJ v y m m: nouns mus 00momumo, wnmm'ron. n. c.

-m. 674,209. Patented my I4, 1901. I

- n. P. LINK.

AUTOGRAPH RECORDER.

(Application filed Jan. 2. 1901.1 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented May l4, IQOI. R. P. LINK. AUTOGRAPH RECORDER. (Applicltionfllod- Jln. 2, 1901.}

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UNITED STATES ROLLS PEROIVAL LINK,

PATENT OFFICE.-

OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

AUTOGRAPH-RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 674,209, dated May 14,1901. Application filed January 2, 1901. Serial No. 41.895. (No model.)

T0 00 whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, RoLLs PERCIVAL LINK, salesman, a citizen of theUnited States of America, residing at London, England, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Time and Autograph Recorders andthe Like, of which the, following is a specification.

This invention relates to recorders of the kind or class wherein anautograph-record is made on a strip of paper or other material, togetherwith a record made by printingwheels or other automatic mechanism, andthe said invention is intended chiefly for recording the times of entryand exit of work people and others to and from the works or place ofbusiness and for receiving at the same time autograph-records of suchpersons whereby they may be identified.

The strip of paper or the like upon which the records are made has twomovements imparted to it d uring each complete recordviz., a backwardmovement and a forward movement. The forward movement is, however,greater than the backward movement, so that the said strip on the wholereceives a progressive forward movement,and the successive records arethereby obtained indue order on the strip. By this meansit is possibleto arrange that the actual position where the autograph is made shall beso remote from the time-wheels or other automatic printing mechanismthat ample and convenient room is allowed for writing on therecording-strip, while at the same time the two records-viz. that madeby the automatic wheels and the autographare brought close together. Thestrip is first moved backward before the an tograph-record is made andis then moved forward before the automatic record is made. Thisto-andfro movement of the strip constitutes an important feature of myinvention.

Another important feature of my invention is the arrangement of thespools or reels carrying the recording-strip on one side of the machineand the actuating mechanism on the other side so that the two aredistinct and the recording-strip can thus be manipulated and insertedand removed when required without difficulty.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate how my'invention'may be conveniently carried into practice, Figure 1 is afront elevation of the machine, partly in section, the front of the casebeing partially removed. Fig. 2 is a side view looking from the right ofFig. 1, the side of the case being partly removed. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on the lines: 0c, Fig 1, looking toward the left of said figure.Fig. L is a plan of the triphammer and connected parts for obtaining theimpression from the time-Wheels. Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion ofthe driving mechanism with a ratchet-wheel, hereinafter described,removed to show the parts behind said wheel; and Fig. 6 is a section onthe line y 11 Fig. 3, looking toward the right in said figure andillustrating a detail of construction.

Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

a is the recording-strip of paper or other material which passes overguide-rollers b c from a clockj in the manner well known in connectionwith workmens time-recorders. The recordingstrip is fed intermittentlyat each operation of the machine from a reel 7t to a reel Z by means offeed-rollers m, which are arranged to grip the said strip in anysuitable manner. For example,the spindle of the top roller works in aslot 55, in the bearingplate 56 and is kept pressed down by springs 57.The handle at for working the machine is shown projecting through acurved slot 0 in the case of the machine. It is attached to a crank-armp, which is secured on a shaft q, mounted in bearings in a suitableframe 1*, which carries the whole of the mechanism. 8 if are two othershafts arranged parallel to the shaft q.

' u v w are parallel crank-arms on the shafts q s t, respectively, and zis a link or rod connecting said crank-arms. The crank-arm u is fixed onthe shaft q; but the crank-arms o w are loose on their shafts s 25. Bythis construction when the shaft q is oscillated by moving the handle nto and fro the cranks 'u to oscillate in unison therewith. It is onlynecessary to move the handle n in one direction by hand, the returnmovement being effected by a spring 1, connected-at one end to the frameo and at the other end to an arm 2, fixed on the shaft q. The cranks u'11 10 are shown duplicated in the drawings; but this.

is not necessary, single 4 cranks may be used. The lower feed-roller mis geared to the shaft 8 by toothed wheels 34 5'. On said shaft 8 arefixed a pair of ratchet-Wheels 6 7, having their teeth pointing inopposite directions. These ratchet-wheels are both seen in Fig. 6, whilein Fig. 5 the front wheel 6 is removed, together with oue ofthelcran'k-arms.

loosely mounted on the shaft 8 is a cam 10, which is fixed in positionby ascrew 11, pass-i ing through a slot 12in the cam and screwing intothe frame 1'. The pawl 9 is furnished with a projection 13, which ridesupon the edge of the said cam, which edge is eccentric to the shafts, sothat as the crank-arm '1; moves around todrive the ratchet-wheel7 thepawl 9 is gradually drawn out of engagement with the teeth of theratchet-Wheel and becomes entirely disengaged before the crankarm hascompleted its stroke, whereupon the backward movement of therecording-strip ceases. By adjusting the cam, which the slot 12 permitsof, the angular movement of the crank-arm a; before its paw-l becomesdisengaged from the ratchet-wheel 7 can be regulated, and therefore'theextent of backward wheel 7.

movement of the recording-strip may be adjusted to suit anyrequirements.

The shaft t is driven in one direction by a spring-controlled pawl 15,pivoted on the crank-arm w and engaging with a ratchetwheel 16, fixed onthe shaft t. On the said shaft t is also fixed a toothed wheel 17, whichgears with a'pinion 18, connected to a radially-slotted friction-disk19, that bears lightlyagainst the inner flange of the reel and drivessaid reel by friction. In a similar way the reel Z is driven by afriction-disk connected to a pinion 20, gearing with the Wheel 3. Bythis method of driving the feed of the recordingstrip inboth directionsis controlled solely by the rollers m and the reels or spools k Ztake'up all slack in the strip. The friction between the disk 19 and reel isis sufficient to turn said reel so as to take up any-slack in the strip,but is not sufficient to drag the strip and rotate the feed-rollers mand the connected gears, so that the movement of the strip will cease,as above described, when the pawl 9 becomes disengaged from the ratchet-It is obvious that the reels k and Z may be arranged directly on theshafts tand s, respectively.

The case of the machine is formed with a sloping desk 21, in which is anopening 22,-

immediately above the table e. This opening is closed by a plate orshutter 23, except at such times as the recording-strip is in the properposition for receiving the autograph. Said shutter is pivoted at 24,Fig. 1, and is connec'tedbya'link 25 to a tappet 26, pivoted at 27.'When the handle n is drawn forward by the operator, the crank-arm wstrikes the tappet 26 when near the end of its movement and moves theshutter 23, thus uncovering the recording-strip,,and when the handle 7is re- -turned to its'normal position, the shutter 23 falls back bygravity,-t-he same being supported on an inclined surface,-'and closesthe opening again, or the s'hutter23 may be returned positively by anarm 30, connected to the crank w,'as indicated in Fig. 3, said arm 30also preventing the shutter from being moved to uncoverthe'recordingstrip so long as the handle n remains in its normalposition.

In order that the records may be made in the correct position on therecording-strip, it is necessary to prevent the return of the bandle nbefore a complete stroke is made. For this purpose I fix aratchet-segment 31 on the shaft q, with which ratchet there engages apawl 32, pivoted to the frame 1'. So long as this pawl is engaged'withthe ratchet the handle 'n. cannot be returned. At the completion,however, of the stroke of the handle a a projection 33 on the. ratchet31 raises the pawl 32, whereupon a swinging latch 34, having ashoulder35, drops underneath the tail end 36 of the pawl and somaintains saidpawl out of engagement with the ratchet, and

the handle it can then be returned. At the completion of the returnmovement of the handle another projection 37 on the ratchet ing latchand displaces said latch laterally, thereby again releasing the pawl 32and allowing said pawl to become rengaged with being pulled forwardagain before the backward movement has been completed. I

The automatic impression on the recordingstrip is obtained by aspring-controlled triphammer 40, pivoted at 41 and tripped by a pin 42,acting on the tail end 43 of the hammer. The said .pin is fixed in adisk 44, secured on a shaft 45, that is geared by a pinion 46 andtoothed segment 47 with the shaft q. When the pin 42 escapes past thetail end 43 of the hammer, the latter being thus suddenly released isdriven by its spring 48 against the recording-strip a, immediatelyunderneath the type-wheels, and an impression is obtained on the saidstrip by theaid of an ink-ribbon 50. The tail end 43 of the ham mer isconstructed to swing loosely in one direction, so that the pin 42 canbereturned without affecting the hammer. The ink-rib- .slides up theinclined edge 38 of the swing bon 50 passes between the time-wheelsfgand the recording-strip a, being guided by a roller 51. Theribbon-spools 52 53 may be actuated in any known or suitable manner 'tomove the ribbon after each impression is fed forward sufficiently tobring the name. just written thereon in line with the time-' wheels f g,at which instant the hammer 40 is released and an impression obtained bythe time-wheels opposite said name, thus indicating the time at whichthe autograph is recorded. When the handle is next operated, therecording-strip a is drawn back again, but not so far as it was movedforward on the previous operation, so that the next portion of stripexposed at the opening 22 is not the same as but is closely adjacent tothat lastwritten upon. In this way the successive records are brought asclose together as may be desired, thus avoiding waste of paper and.

at the same time the place where the autograph is made is so far removedfrom the time-wheels that the writer is not cramped for room.

The autograph-record and the automatic record may be made one abovetheother or they may be made side by side.

What I claim 'is- 1. In a time and autograph recorder, the combinationof a recording-strip, feed-rollers for feeding said, strip, anactuating-handle, and intermediate mechanism between the handle and thefeed-rollers, whereby when the handle is movedin one direction it feedsthe strip backward through a definite distance and when it is moved inthe other direction it feeds it forward through a greater distance, forthe purpose specified.

2. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of arecording-strip, feed-rollers for feeding said strip, a table over whichsaid strip passes, time-printing devices, and handcontrolled mechanismfor actuating the feedrollers whereby the strip is first moved backwardby one movement of the handle to the proper position for receiving theautograph,

and is then moved forward, by a reverse movement of the handle, to bringthe autograph into juxtaposition with the time-printing devices,substantially as described.

3. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of arecording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printingdevices, a handle for actuating the feed-rollers, and intermediatemechanism between said handle and feed-rollers, said mechanismcomprising a pair of pawl-actuated ratchet-wheels arranged to work inopposite directions, one to feed the strip backward and the other tofeed the strip forward, and a cam engaging one of said pawls to throwsame out of gear before the completion of its stroke, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of arecording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printingdevices, a handle for actuating the feed-rollers, and intermediatemechanism between said handle and feed-rollers, said mechanismcomprising.

strip first backward and then forward, and

friction-driven reels, for taking up the slack in the said strip,substantially as described.

6. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of arecording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printing wheels,hand-actuated mechanism for moving the strip first backward to receivethe autograph and then forward to receive the impression from thetime-wheels, a handle for working said mechanism, and means to preventthe return of the handle before the completion of its stroke, whileallowing it to return when the stroke has been completed, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ROLLS PEROIVAL LINK.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. KNOWLES, HERBERT ARTHUR BEESTON.

